The hot corner was never hotter than it was in the 1960s. In that decade, major league baseball featured its greatest collection of both power pitchers and power hitters.
It should be no coincidence, then, that the decade included some of the best players to patrol the third base foul line. The ten best third basemen from the 1960s are ranked in order below, based on their offensive consistency and defensive prowess during that decade. The list includes three Hall of Famers, as well as at least another couple third basemen who deserve enshrinement in Cooperstown. Ron Santo and Dick Allen certainly qualify for that much deserved consideration, and hopefully will get it soon.
1. Brooks Robinson - Throughout the 1960s, Brooks Robinson was simply the best third baseman in baseball. When Robinson retired, he held practically every career fielding record for a third baseman, including most career putouts (2,697), most career assists (6,205), most career double plays (618), and the highest fielding average (.971). His best offensive year was 1964, when he won the American League Most Valuable Player award by batting .317 with 28 home runs and a league-leading 118 RBIs.
2. Ron Santo - In 1961, Santo's first full season, he hit .284 with 23 home runs and 83 RBIs. From 1964 through 1969, Santo averaged 24 home runs and 104 RBIs per season, hitting .297 over that period. He won 5 consecutive Gold Gloves between 1964 and 1968. For his career, Santo holds or shares the National League record for years leading the league in chances (9), assists (7) and double plays (6).
3. Dick Allen - Dick Allen was one of the most-feared hitters during the 1960s. In 1966, he hit 40 home runs with 110 RBIs and a .317 batting average, his best all-around year with the Phillies. He also led the league in slugging that year with a .632 average. Allen was a consistent threat during the 1960s, averaging 29 homers and 90 RBIs per season from 1964 to 1969, and batting a combined .300 over that period.
4. Ken Boyer -Boyer won 5 Gold Gloves as the Cardinals' third baseman, and averaged 23 home runs with 91 RBIs and a .293 batting average during his Cardinal career. His best performance came during the Cardinals' championship season of 1964, when he led the majors with 119 RBI. He batted also .295 with 24 home runs and scored 100 runs, earning him 1964's National League Most Valuable Player award.
5. Tony Perez - The Hall of Fame Cincinnati Reds infielder had a long and productive career that began in the 1960s. From 1967 through 1969, Perez hit .289 and averaged 27 home runs and 105 RBIs per season. For his career, Perez had 379 home runs and over 1,652 RBIs, good for 10th place all-time among right-handed batters.
6. Eddie Mathews - Mathews hit 512 home runs over his 17-year career, twice leading the National League in round-trippers. While his most productive seasons came in the 1950s, Mathews bat was still lethal into the 1960s, averaging 29 HRs and 93 RBIs per season from 1960 to 1965.
7. Max Alvis - Alvis had a promising career derailed when he contracted spinal meningitis in 1964 and never had quite the same strength afterward. Always a solid defender, the Cleveland third baseman's best season was 1963 when he hit .274 with 22 home runs.
8. Frank Malzone - Malzone provided steady third base play for the Boston Red Sox for nearly a decade, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. From 1957 to 1964, he won 3 Gold Gloves and hit .281, averaging 81 RBIs per season.
9. Pete Ward - Pete Ward hit .295 with 22 home runs and 95 RBIs in 1963, finishing second in the Rookie-of- the-Year race to teammate and 19-game winner Gary Peters. Ward's power numbers improved the next year to 23 HRs and 94 runs batted in. His promising career was derailed when a traffic accident led to chronic back problems that hindered Ward for the rest of his career.
10. Clete Boyer - Clete Boyer, brother to Ken, was a fixture at third for the New York Yankees in the first half of the 1960s. The Yankees could count on Boyer for 13 home runs and 55 RBIs per year, along with solid defense. Boyer was dealt to the Atlanta Braves after the 1966 season, and it was in Atlanta that he won his only Gold Glove in 1969.
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